Conductive structures and vias are commonly used as interconnect structures to form an integrated circuit of a semiconductor device. Vias are used to connect conductive lines formed on multiple levels of interconnect layers.
In addition, through silicon vias (TSVs) are formed through the silicon substrate for coupling multiple integrated circuit chips to form a stacked semiconductor device. Such a stacked semiconductor device is formed to provide an integrated circuit with high capacity and low area.
Conductive structures such as conductive plugs are formed to provide connection to transistors, diodes, and the like for forming an integrated circuit. The via structures and the conductive structures may be formed through a same inter-metal insulation layer. Such via and conductive structures are desired to be formed with minimized deterioration for high integrity of operation of the integrated circuit.